大学英语四级美文欣赏：学习语言让大脑更灵活思维导图

Mostpeoplelearnlanguagestohelpthemcommunicate.Nowastudyofrecentresearchintobrainfunctionrevealsthatstudentscouldbegainingalotmorefromtheirpursuitoflinguisticskills.

ThechiefreasonmostpeoplewanttolearnEnglishistobeabletocommunicateinthelanguageandforgepathwaysintothewiderworld.NowastudypublishedbytheEuropeanCommissionrevealsthatlearninganadditionallanguagesuchasEnglishmaybringbenefitsthatgobeyondtheabilitytousethelanguageitself.Thisreporthasimplicationsforwhy,whenandhowweteachandlearnEnglishasasecondorforeignlanguage.

Thereport,entitledTheContributionofMultilingualismtoCreativity,includesastatisticalanalysisofkeyresearchintotheimpactthatknowingandusingmorethanonelanguagehasonthinkingandthebrain.Itarguesthatthereisadovetailingofresultsbetweenstudiesconductedoverthelast40years,includingrecentfindingsfromtheneurosciences.Theresearch,ofteninvolvingtheuseofneuro-imagingtechniques,ishelpingustounderstandmoreclearlywhathappensinthebrainwhenapersonlearnsorusesmorethanonelanguage.

OneofthesignificantfindingsforEnglishlanguageteachingisthatchangesinthebrain'selectricalactivitymayoccurmuchearlierthanpreviouslythought.Ithasbeenassumedthatonlycommandofdifferentlanguagesatveryhighlevelswouldhaveanimpactonbrainfunction.Butthisstudysuggeststhatchangesinthebrainmaystartevenintheearlierstagesoflanguagelearning.Thishasimplicationsfornotonlyrecognisingthevalueofpartiallanguagecompetences,butalsoforunderstandingwhycertainlanguagelearningmethodologiesbringbetterresultsthanothers.

Thereportidentifiessixareasinwhichthemultilingualminddiffersinsomewaytothemonolingualmind.Thetermmultilingualisusedtodescribepeoplewhousemorethanonelanguageintheirday-to-daylives.Whatwebelieveissignificantabouttheevidenceclustersisthesimilarityofoutcomesresultingfromdifferentresearchapproaches,andhowtheystrengthenthepositionofforeignlanguagelearningbydescribingdistincttypesofaddedvalue.Mostoftheadvantagesdescribedsupportoverallcompetence-buildingforlifeandworkinmodern,information-rich,internetenvironments.

Thebenefitsreportedincludeenhancedcapacityforlearningwherebyknowledgeoflanguagescanleadtosuperiormemoryfunction,especiallyshort-term"working"memory.Thisenablesthebraintoholdinformationlongerwhilethethinkingprocessesareengaged,whichcanhaveaprofoundimpactoncognitivefunction.Oneimplicationisthepositiveimpactoflanguagesonthelearningofothersubjects.

Anotherclusterconcernsenhancedmentalflexibility.Thisinvolvesneuralpathwaysbeingopenedup,whichextendsthecapacitytothinkandopensaccesstodifferingavenuesforthought.Languagesappeartoexercisethebrainasifitwereamuscleandflexibilitylinksdirectlytothedevelopmentofdigitalliteracies.Forinstance,someoftheresearchinthisarealooksattheadvantagesoflanguageknowledgeinrelationtothespeedandaccuracyofdecisionmakingwhenusingmultimediasuchasgaming.

Enhancedproblem-solvingcapabilityisalsoreported.Thisinvolvessuperiorperformanceinproblemsolving,whichiscognitivelydemanding,includingabstractthinkingskills,higherconceptformationskillsandcreativehypothesisformulation.Itisaboutstrengtheningourcapacitytoidentify,understandandsolveproblems.Oneaspectistheabilitytoignoredistractingandirrelevantinformationandfocusonagiventask.Anotherinvolvesfurtherdevelopmentskillsinthesimultaneoushandlingofmorethanonetaskatagiventime,otherwiseknownasmulti-tasking.

Greaterunderstandingofhowlanguagefunctionsandisusedtoachievespecificgoalsinlifeactsasthefourthcluster.Thismetalinguisticabilityinvolvesbeingableto"gobeyondthewords",helpinganindividualdevelopcommunicationskillsinboththeirfirstlanguageandothers.Thisiscloselylinkedtoenhancedinterpersonalcommunicationawarenessandskillswherebypeoplearebetterabletoperceivethecommunicativeneedsofothers,bemoreinsightfulin"reading"situationsthroughcontextualsensitivity,anddevelopinteractionalskillsincommunication.

Finallythestudyreportsonresearchthatlinksknowledgeoflanguagestoaslowdownofage-relatedmentaldiminishmentsuchascertainformsofdementia.Languageknowledgeappearstoreducetherateofdeclineofcertaincognitiveprocessesasapersonages,byhelpingthebraintoleratepathologies.Thisresistancetoneuropathologicaldamageisconsideredtobeintherangeoftwotofouryears.Delaysinmentaldeclineofevenuptosixmonthsareviewedashavingconsiderableimplicationsforindividuals,theirfamiliesandpublichealth.

Althoughwehavenotyetreachedthateurekamomentwhereadirectcausallinkbetweenlearninglanguagesandspecificcognitiveadvantagescanbeproven,the­evidenceisbuildingupfast.Since2000therehasbeenasteadyincreaseinthenumberofreportsbeingpublishedwithinwhatislooselytermedtheeducational­neurosciences,andsomeofthesehavedirectimplicationsforEnglishlanguageprofessionals.

Thecognitiveneurosciencesstresstheneedforpowerfullearningenvironments,andyetnotenoughofourlanguageeducationisspentencouraginglearnerstoengageinhigher-orderthinkingaboutmeaningfulcontentthatfiresupthebrain.

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